Mahjong Pretty Manga Girls

Manga portraits replace the usual symbols in Mahjong Pretty Manga Girls, and clearing a board is how you unlock the next character in the set.

The mechanic is linking: pick two matching tiles and they go. Playtouch keeps it to that, with no bonuses or power-ups in the way, so the progression is the reward and every completed level adds a girl to the gallery. Ornaments was filed here for the same reason.

Difficulty climbs steadily. The early boards are open enough to solve on sight, while later ones pack the same 800-by-600 frame with more tiles and more portraits that resemble each other, which is where the game actually starts. Also under this heading: 3D Mahjong.

Tiles respond to a click or a tap, so the 2018 build works on a desktop and on a touchscreen alike. Full screen is the setting to use, since the artwork is detailed and the difference between two characters can come down to hair colour or a ribbon. The Cooking Tile board is catalogued beside this board.

1. Click or tap a tile to select it.
2. Choose the matching portrait to clear the pair.
3. Keep pairing until the board is empty.
4. Finish the level to unlock the next manga character.
5. Move on to the next and denser board.

• Compare hair, not faces — the portraits share a drawing style, and colour is the fastest way to tell two tiles apart.
• Clear the crowded middle first — the outer tiles stay reachable while the inner ones do not.
• Take your time on the early levels — Mahjong Pretty Manga Girls raises the tile count steadily, and the habits you build now carry.
• Unlocks come from finished boards — a half-cleared level adds nothing to the gallery, so see each one through.
• Play in full screen — at 800 by 600 the portrait detail that distinguishes characters is easy to miss.